Kentucky fugitives found via Facebook

HAZARD, Ky. (AP) — Two fugitives wanted in Kentucky on charges of rape and sexual abuse were caught in Texas after police investigators found out they had been communicating with a friend on Facebook.

According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, 44-year-old Jerry Lee Callahan and his wife, 40-year-old Rebecca Callahan, were on the run for nearly five years, but officials tracked them down recently in Victoria County.

Sheriff Kevin Johnson told WYMT-TV in Hazard that someone who knew the couple had chatted with them online through the social network.

“They had been talking to them on Facebook, back and forth and we obtained some IP addresses,” Johnson said.

The couple was arrested in August 2007 but released from jail just days before they were indicted on charges of rape, incest, sodomy and sexual abuse.

“Because it was such an enormous case, they actually posted bond before they were actually indicted and basically got out of jail and disappeared,” said Johnson.

The two are expected to return to Kentucky on Wednesday and will be detained in the Clay County Detention Center until they can be arraigned in court.

Johnson credited the digital detective work in social media in helping to find the two.

“Even if you are on the run, you are going to stay in contact with friends and family which in the future it is going to be a tool that law enforcement will use and has used and will be continuing to use,” Johnson said.